The present invention generally relates to implants and more specifically relates to method and apparatus for preparing bone for receiving an implant.
The use of prosthetic implants to replace damaged natural joints, or portions of such joints, in the body has become widespread as medical and technological advances have joined to provide improved materials and configurations for prosthetic implants and innovative procedures for implanting these devices. The basic objective of such devices and procedures is to provide a repaired joint of maximum effectiveness, with a minimal intrusion into the body. Component parts of these prosthetic implants are utilized to replace portions of a natural joint which have become damaged, either through injury or disease, and it is usually necessary to remove portions of the natural joint beyond merely the damaged portions in order to enable stable and secure fixation of the component parts to the natural bone. In addition, access to damaged joints is limited and the necessity for reaching the areas to be worked upon can affect the extent of intrusion required to complete an effective implant.
Improved methods for implanting a prosthetic device are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,838, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. In certain preferred embodiments of the '838 patent, a method for preparing a seating surface for an implant includes positioning a guide on bone, the guide having a guide slot following a path geometrically similar to the peripheral boundary of the seating surface, inserting a cutting device through the guide slot at any selected location along the path of the guide slot, and translating the cutting device along the guide slot to cut an outline groove in the bone coincident with the peripheral boundary of the seating surface. The guide is removed from the bone, and portions of the bone lying within the area delineated by the outline groove are removed to establish the seating surface. The methods disclosed in the '838 patent provide numerous advantages including minimizing the amount of natural bone that must be removed and attaining accuracy in the delineation of the area, depth and contour configuration of the prepared surfaces of the bone that will receive the implant
In spite of the above advances, there remains a need for improved methods and apparatus for preparing bone for receiving implants and implanting the prosthetic devices.